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• Health-conscious baseball players chew gum, sunflower seeds instead of tobacco 

Going, going . . .

The same can be said of guys in the dugout spewing tobacco soup from the wad of Mail Pouch packed in their cheeks. In 1998, after former Indians player Brett Butler, a smokeless-tobacco user, got throat cancer, Major League Baseball barred teams from providing players with tobacco products, although players are still free to use their own. All tobacco use was banned in the minor leagues the same year.

"Every year [tobacco] usage decreases," Bart Swain, Indians director of media relations, wrote in an e-mail.

But it's not completely gone. According to Swain, six to eight players on the 25-man roster use some form of chew or dip. Chew or leaf comes in scrap form and is tucked into the cheek.

Red Man and Mail Pouch are two popular brands. . . .

"I'll tell you why the numbers are down for players now," said Barker, 52. "The teams don't provide it anymore. That's a big part of it. It used to be right in your face. And everybody used it. The coaches, the managers. And it wasn't just a baseball thing. Guys who used it did it while fishing or playing golf. It went with any outdoor activity. Of course, if you spit on the floor inside the house, your wife would beat you."

The team now provides more healthful chewing alternatives.

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